Thursday, January 24, 2008

On Tuesday the NHL announced that Bruins' goalie Tim Thomas was named to the Eastern Conference All-Star team.

This marks Thomas' first appearance in the NHL All-Star Game. Thomas, 33, currently leads all NHL goaltenders with a .930 save percentage, a ranking he has held most of the season, and he is eighth overall in the league with a 2.30 goals against average. He has played in 31 of Boston's 47 games this season with a 15-11-3 record and one shutout in those contests.

Source. These stats were from before the game vs the Canadiens on Tuesday, so Thomas' numbers have definitely changed after that game.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

I didn't get a chance to post the Milan Lucic highlights vs the Montreal Canadiens from January 10th so I will now. Lucic had some big hits on Mike Komisarek and he also received a few. Also Lucic scored his fourth goal of the season. Watch the YouTube video below.

Also in that game Shawn Thornton roughed up Roman Hamrlik which I liked seeing. Watch it below.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

The Bruins have recalled forward Pascal Pelletier from the Providence Bruins (AHL). Pelletier currently leads the AHL in goals with 24. He has 48 points and a +17 rating in 40 games this season. The Bruins play the Toronto Maple Leafs tomorrow and Pelletier may play.

First, Bruins' center Marc Savard was named to the Eastern Conference All-Stars team. From BostonBruins.com:

This marks Savard's first appearance in an NHL All-Star Game in his 10-year-career. Savard leads the Bruins with 47 points this season, having posted 11 goals, a team-best 36 assists, and a +5 plus/minus rating in 43 games.

On Tuesday, Bruins' rookie power forward Milan Lucic was named to the Eastern Conference YoungStars team. From BostonBruins.com:

This year, in his first NHL season, Lucic has tallied four goals and five assists, while registering 59 penalty minutes in 39 games.

Before joining Boston this season, Lucic's previous two campaigns were spent with the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League (WHL).

Last season, Lucic led the Giants in regular season scoring with 30 goals and 38 assists and 147 penalty minutes in 70 regular season games. During the Giants run towards the 2007 Memorial Cup Championship, Lucic added 19 points and 26 penalty minutes in 22 games and was named the Giants Most Valuable Player, the team’s Humanitarian and Service award winner and the 2007 Memorial Cup MVP.

It's good to see Savard and Lucic awarded for their good play so far this season.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Today the NHL announced that Bruins' captain Zdeno Chara has been named a starter for the Eastern Conference team in this years NHL All-Star game, which will be on January 27th. So far this season Chara has played in 41 games, has 6 goals and 20 assists, along with 76 PIMs and a +5 rating.

Over at ESPN.com, David Amber had an interview with Bruins' defenseman Andrew Ference and Ference had some interesting comments about Sydney Crosby.

From the interview:

Q: Last month you fought Sidney Crosby in his first NHL fight. How did that fight start?

A: I wish it was a better fight, since I get to talk about it so much. It started like any other fight. I finished my check on him in the corner and then he punched me and I punched him back, then we fought. I was surprised it was his first fight, because I've seen him punch guys before after he gets hit. I figured someone else would have grabbed him and started a fight. It would have been a fight no matter who it was because that's the way hockey is supposed to be -- if you give a guy a shot in the face, you better be willing to drop the gloves to follow up with it.

Q: What kind of reaction did you get from friends, fans and the media after fighting with arguably the game's biggest star?

A: My sister called me, she's a teacher in Alberta, she told me she has been getting a hard time from her students [laughs]. My friends kind of laughed and said they wished it was a little longer, they wanted more punches thrown. Guys on the team have thought it was funny how much exposure it got, especially since they think it was the worst fight I have had this year.

Q: But can you really win a fight like that? Let's say you broke his jaw or gave him a concussion. Then you're known as the guy who injured Sidney Crosby. Isn't it a losing battle for you?

A: [Laughs.] if I did that, I would have to fight Georges Laraque every time we played Pittsburgh. I wouldn't want that [laughs].

Q: Did Laraque or any of the other Pens have words for you after you fought Crosby?

A: No, nobody said anything. That's the thing, nobody should have to say anything, the kid's not little. He's bigger than I am.

Q: Crosby cut you during the fight. How good a fighter is he?

A: No, his visor cut me. He came up and his visor cut the top of my head. Go back to that Jarome question. Jarome in my books is a better hockey player than Crosby because he does those things. He will fight, he will lay his body on the line and take the hit and not complain if someone hits him and stuff like that. The superstars of the league should have to do that because they're hockey players, they're not ice-skating princesses. Hockey is an emotional game, you have to stand up for yourself. You have to stand up for your actions. If you punch somebody in the face, then you should fight, that's the way hockey is suppose to be.

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Last night's game between the Bruins and Devils was a good one. The Bruins played a strong game for the most part as they played physical, played strong defense, and capitalized on some of their offensive chances. Although in the third period the Bruins looked to get away from the way they played in the first two periods, and the Devils got back into the game. At the end of the game their was a big scrum starting with Zdeno Chara and Brian Gionta getting into it, and Dennis Wideman and Devils' captain Jamie Langenbrunner holding onto each other. Watch it below if you missed it.

Bruins-Devils scrum at the end of the game

The Bruins next game is on Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Bruins will be playing three big games this week, the Hurricanes on Tuesday, the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday, and the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday. The Bruins are currently 21-16-4 with 46 points, which puts them in third place in the Northeast Division (Senators with 58 points and Canadiens with 48 points are ahead of them).

Random stat I think is interesting. Last season the Bruins had 29 fighting majors total for the whole season. This season they already have 30 fighting majors.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Today the Boston Bruins traded forward Brandon Bochenski to the Anaheim Ducks for defenseman Shane Hnidy and a 6th round draft pick. Bochenski played in 20 games this season and has 0 goals and 6 assists for the Bruins. Hnidy played in 33 games this season and has 1 goal and 2 assists, with 30 PIMs for the Ducks. Hnidy is known for physical defensive play and not known for his offense. I see this not as a great move because Hnidy won't do anything to help the offense but he should help the defense. Hopefully this turns into a good trade.